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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23623267">Home is Where the High Bar is</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chrystie/pseuds/Chrystie'>Chrystie</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bruce never adopts Dick AU, Dick Grayson Week, Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 17:42:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,093</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23623267</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chrystie/pseuds/Chrystie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Y’know what kid, I do kinda like ya. Bet Ivy and her little brat would like ya too.”</p>
<p>Dick stared at her in complete befuddlement. She couldn’t be offering what he thought she was offering. “You-who...what?”</p>
<p>“What? Ya gonna gape or ya wanna see how life could really treat ya?”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dick Grayson &amp; Harleen Quinzel, Dick Grayson &amp; Jason Todd</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>324</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Home is Where the High Bar is</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>For Day 4 of Dick Grayson Week: Different Mentors</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Dick was just so done with everything. He was done with his sham of a foster home, he was done with switching families every other month, and he was absolutely done with the pitying whispers around him. After four years you would think people would forget about the tragedy that was your life. Not Gotham apparently. They had new tragedies every week and they still bothered to remember all the ones that happened before.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dick had, for the most part, come to terms with his parents’ deaths. It helped that the person who caused it was caught and arrested fairly quickly after, but there would always be a part of him that would be bitter that the person who ruined his life didn’t get something worse than just life in prison.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Coming to terms with his parents’ deaths though didn’t make going from foster family to foster family any easier and he could tell most of them didn’t really give a shit about him. Case in point right now.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He’d snuck out hours ago and had been wandering the streets for most of it. It was better than staying there and most people on the streets ignored him when they realized he didn’t really have anything on him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That didn’t mean they weren’t dangerous, and he really should’ve been watching where he was going because you never really knew who you could bump into. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He and whoever he’d walked right into both fell over from the impact.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sorry!” Dick groaned, landing on his ass.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Geez watch where yer goin’ will ya!” Came a voice that was a lot higher than he expected but somewhat recognizable.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well you don’t have to be so rude about it, I said I was sorry.” He regretted those words as he looked up and there was the one and only Harley Quinn, sidekick and punching bag for the Joker.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Up yours!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dick was a smart guy, he knew when to keep his mouth shut and when to talk back, but he really wasn’t having a good day and the words just kind of spewed out of him. “Geez, doesn’t your not a real clown boyfriend teach you any better insults?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That seemed to hit something in Harley because very suddenly he was back on his feet and being held up by the front of his shirt by a very angry woman. “What do you know about anything ya little brat! And for the record, he ain’t my boyfriend, we broke up.” She seemed to deflate a little at that. That was a sign of a woman who was not over her break up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Really? Well that’s good, you were way too good for him.” At least Dick was always good at putting on a brave face.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That seemed to get Harley to lighten her hold a little. “Ya think so?” Dick could see a little light of hope for himself.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, I just told you, fake clown. An insult to all clowns everywhere, honestly. He’s not even funny. I should know, I’ve known a few professionals. You were like a professional gymnast and have a PhD. Way too good for him.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Harley gave him some kind of scrutinizing look before something clearly clicked for her since she let go of his shirt, “I know who you are! Yer that little circus kid from all those years ago. Ya sure grew up to be a looker.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Uh, I don’t know how to take that,” Dick said a little nervously.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Relax kid, ya still a baby in my books. Heard you were put in the system.” Dick grimaced and understanding just seemed to blossom over Harley’s face. “Y’know what kid, I do kinda like ya. Bet Ivy and her little brat would like ya too.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dick stared at her in complete befuddlement. She couldn’t be offering what he thought she was offering. “You-who...what?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What? Ya gonna gape or ya wanna see how life could really treat ya?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Y-you’re serious?” Surely Dick couldn’t trust her. She’d murdered so many people. She was a criminal.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wouldn’t be offerin’ if I wasn’t.” Then again, everyone knew her criminal status was largely due to her relationship with the Joker and while she may still be a criminal without him, maybe she wouldn’t be too bad. Afterall, she’d said Ivy. That had to mean Poison Ivy and Dick sometimes didn’t really want to classify her as evil at all, not when all she really wanted was to save the environment.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So, against all his better judgement and common sense, he followed Harley.</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Harley took him back to a warehouse that looked like a combination between a greenhouse and a fun house. It felt more homey than any of the homes he’d been in. Poison Ivy was there, just like Harley said she would be and it really put things into perspective to see how unintimidating she looked when she was nose deep in a book with vines holding her tea for her. Unexpectedly though, there was another kid there. He looked to be only a few years younger than Dick and he was sitting opposite Ivy, also with a book in his lap.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ivy!” Harley screamed excitedly, which Dick couldn’t really have expected any other type of greeting given how their walk over was. After he’d decided to follow Harley, she took that as a sign to talk to him about anything and everything and Dick honestly loved it. He liked it when people felt comfortable enough to just talk to him about whatever was on their mind.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Inside voice, Harley,” Ivy chastised but didn’t look up from her book.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But Ivy, look! I got a little twerp too!” Harley grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him in front of her and the other boy.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ivy finally put her book down and the other boy peaked over his own. “You did. I’d tell you that we aren’t running a nursery here but I did bring the first one.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Should I be offended? I feel a little offended,” Dick frowned.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The other kid shrugged, seemingly comfortable with trying to ignore all of them. “You get used to it. Pretty sure they’re gonna treat us like kids no matter what even if Harley’s the biggest kid here.” He and Ivy didn’t look up as they both high fived each other.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Jase ya little brat!” With her cheeks puffed up, she pulled Dick into a one sided hug, “Whatever, I got Dickie here now to be on my side!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You know my name?” Dick definitely hadn’t given it to her on the way over.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course, ya gave me ya tragic backstory.” Dick hadn’t really expected her to remember just based off that. “Guys, this is the circus kid from way back when.” He wasn’t sure if he liked being called that either even if it was true.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You found the acrobat boy from the circus? You really like your themes, Harles.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course. Me and Dickie are gonna have so much fun bondin’ doing all our gymnastics together.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Okay, yeah, Dick was going to like this place just fine.</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Dick didn’t actually get to see a gym or a gymnastics set up until his third day living with them after all of them had deemed him okay to stay. The gym was so much more than he could’ve ever hoped for. It was made mainly for Harley so it was just as colourful as her with splashes of pink, blue and red everywhere. It was honestly the most beautiful gym Dick had ever seen. While it still had a few weights and barbells, unlike a normal gym it was one made mainly for gymnasts and acrobats. It was decked out with balance beams, and trampolines, and foam pits, and the most beautiful set of high bars and rings Dick had ever laid his eyes on. “I think I’m in love.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well keep it in ya pants while yer in here. This is a sharing gym now.” Harley had been completely happy to share her gym, glad that someone other than just her could appreciate the set up. Jason, he’d learned was the other kid’s name, was the one who liked to use the weights while Ivy didn’t find too much use in working out.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So you gonna show us what you got?” Jason asked from behind him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m a little rusty but I think I could show you guys a thing or two.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Then get to it, kiddo,” Harley pushed him towards the high bars with a huge smile on her face.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dick stepped up to the bar and it was the most at home he’d felt in the four years since he’d been taken from the circus.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He took hold of the bar and let himself flow into a routine he knew by heart. He spun and flipped, going from one bar to the next and back. So he may have lied a little about being out of practice. Over the years he still kept up a small training regimen as much as he could going from home to home. He definitely wasn’t as good as he used to be but he liked to think it was still pretty impressive.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He landed on the mat with his arms up and probably the biggest grin he’d had in years. To the side he heard some enthusiastic clapping that he just knew was from Harley. Jason on the other hand just looked stunned.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I guess I’m not too rusty after all.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ya smug little brat,” Harley laughed, running over to hug him and pull him into a noogie, “Yer gonna fit in just fine here.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And that, more than anything else, made him overwhelmingly glad he’d decided to follow Harley home.</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Dick hadn’t found it too hard to get himself accustomed to living with Ivy and Harley. They had very few rules, the main ones being to not hurt the plants and touch chemical experiments (Ivy), and to not eat all the good snacks (Harley). Past that, they let Dick and Jason do essentially whatever they wanted. Watching them go out and commit crimes every so often was weird to see initially, but it was easy to get used to after the third time. It was Gotham after all, what they did wasn’t that out of the ordinary.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>What was a little tough was connecting with Jason. They were living together but Jason barely acknowledged him past a small greeting most days. Sometimes Jason would talk to him a bit if it was his night to cook and he would usually find his way to the gym to watch Dick work on the high bars and rings, but otherwise, he barely even looked at Dick.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dick couldn’t deny it was a little upsetting since all he wanted to do was get along with Jason, but Jason was apparently adamant that they only interact when they needed to.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you not like me?” Dick asked one night while Ivy and Harley were out.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What?” Jason’s head whipped up at him like he was insane.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, you definitely don’t seem like you like me,” Dick said a little sheepishly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jason frowned, “That’s not...” Somehow he managed to frown even harder. “I don’t not like you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay… Then what is it?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I just don’t know you, I guess.” Well why didn’t he just say so, that was an easy fix.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh. Okay.” Dick hopped onto the window seat Jason had rooted himself to. “Whatcha reading?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jason glanced at him and really looked like he wanted to tell him that it was none of his business. “Pride and Prejudice.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jason let him slide a little closer and as soon as Dick showed interest, Jason was happy to read to him.</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>“Well ain’t that cute.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I told you he’d warm up to him.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Never said you were wrong, just thought it’d take more time.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ivy and Harley had come back from their little excursion on Gotham, narrowly avoiding Batman, to find their two boys curled up against each other on Jason’s little reading corner.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Jason clearly already liked him,” Ivy explained, “He used to be a fan.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh I definitely knew he liked him, just didn’t think he’d let him in close this fast.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, what can I say, you picked up a charmer.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t I know it,” Harley grinned.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They pulled a blanket over the two and let them be. Who knows, maybe Harley would even wake up early just to see how embarrassed they’d be when they woke up.</span>
</p>
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